Bleeding Green
by WonderfulCaricature
Summary: Fiyero adjusts to a new life in the Emerald City.
1. Chapter 1

**I don't know what's gotten into me. I just keep thinking of plots and trying to put them in a story format. Seriously. I'm working on another one right after this goes up.**

**Please give it a chance!**

"Have you misplaced your mind?" Glinda chortled happily. "Red is not pink."

"Aren't they close enough?"

She stared at me, trying to decide if I was serious or not.

"Glin, you'll look good in anything. Can we please just move on?"

"Hey, buddy," She pointed an accusing finger at me. "You promised that we could shop if I rubbed elbows for you. No one ever goes shopping with me. Ever. I have to break into tears just to get them to consider, before ultimately declining, going with me."

"Oz, I wonder why."

"I'm sorry, I didn't hear you over my considering unrubbing those elbows."

At her insistence, I put the red dress back on the rack and started looking for a pink pink dress again. When we were back at Shiz, I never really minded coming out on these excursions, but now they may as well have been torture. I lost track of how long we had been in this _section_ after the first couple quarter hours. How long did we spend shopping back at Shiz? I didn't even think about it much at the time. Wake up in the afternoon, shop, drink, and dance. It was a simple life. Since when did Glinda wake up early to go shopping anyway? Who convinced her it was a good idea? I looked around for a clock, but there was none in sight. Maybe they set these shops up like gambling holes on the other side of the City: Set the aisles up like a maze and leave your customers without a clock. You could get lost in these places for hours. I should have bought that watch I saw yesterday. Or at least worn my own one today. We couldn't be in here too much longer, right? She had somewhere to be, I had people to see. I'm sure it wasn't even lunchtime yet. I was just overreacting to the pointless shopping experience.

I started to pick up a dress that looked pink enough, but Glinda barked at me to put it back. It was followed by a light giggle as a few patrons looked over at her brutal tone. She could be a real wicked witch when she wanted to be. I smiled along to keep the old crows from saying anything rude about their Glinda the Good. There was still so much to pick up on, living in the city, but the rules of high society here couldn't be that much different than the rules of royalty back in the Vinkus. Although, the high society in the City had no qualms in calling a Vinkun a Winkie. While a Vinkun was around. Or while having a conversation with a Vinkun. Other than that, though, everything seemed the same. Hand shaking and ass kissing. So I smiled a smile that always worked at the grey goons, and they blushed and tried hiding it by turning away and gossiping. Glinda rolled her eyes and told me, in a whisper, to get back to looking for her perfect shade of pink.

"I'm wearing a lot of blue, though, lately." She told me as we looked through the same rack of pink colored dresses. "Not Munchkin blue, like a blushy blue. The Wizard says it's much more appealing to the masses. So I save pink for when I'm not under public scrutinization."

Which was when?

"It brings out your eyes." I offered.

"That's what I keep telling myself." She sighed, holding up a pale pink cocktail dress and giving me a questioning look.

I shrugged. "You'll blend in."

Glinda turned to a nearby mirror and considered it for a moment before putting it back on the rack. I can't believe we used to do this for hours. And I do mean hours without complaint.

"Did you catch the news this morning?" Glinda asked after she checked something in her little bag and decided we'd spent enough time in this store.

"Depends." I muttered.

"The tragedy." She said. "I'm supposed to speak on behalf of the fallen, asking for redemption and for those responsible to be held accountable."

"What happened?"

"Honestly, Fiyero," Glinda rolled her eyes. "There was a hit on a group of Gale Force officers participating in a hush-hush mission. The Wizard is clinging to it to rally the citizens of Oz together." Her voice dropped some, "He's looking for a fight and those terrorists are practically handing him one."

"He's not looking for a fight," I snorted. If he was looking for a fight, he would have already started one. He's the Wizard after all.

Glinda shook her head. "They killed ten officers, Fiyero. In cold blood." Her face folded into a soft frown.

I waited til Glinda paid for her items to go on, "Who were they?"

"The doctors couldn't identify any of them. The damage was terrible. I can't believe someone would actually do that to another Ozian. You might not think the Wizard is looking for a fight, but surely you can agree that the terrorists are giving Oz a common enemy?" I gave her a noncommittal shrug but nodded in agreement.

"Is there any leads on who's involved in the organization?"

Glinda hummed, "There's a few guesses, but we don't even know the name of the organization. We ask Ozian about a terrorist, and they point to the nearest neighbor who upset them."

"Do you know what they're after?"

"Answers."

.

Glinda kept glancing towards the exit as we sat waiting for our drinks to arrive. We couldn't have been here more than a quarter of an hour, and she was already ready to go. She was worse than any child. She smiled at the wrinkled grape to her right, patted his hand affectionately, but always lost her attention to sweet freedom several yards away. Her elegantly painted nails drummed on the table softly, light enough as to not attract attention from the wrinkled grape; her lips were pursed in such a way that someone passing could have mistaken them as thoughtful; but her shifty eyes were giving her annoyance away. Finally, she sighed and gave up her hopes and dreams of getting out of this. Knowing her for so long, it was easy to hear the superficialness in her voice as she babbled on with the grape. He was talking about some event or another that they were supposed to be hosting in a couple of weekends. I'd have thought that she would have been all over the topic of a gala, but she just seemed interested in anything but what her significant other was talking about.

"That sounds splendiferous, darling." She said with a note of finality. "So, Nora, tell me about school? Are you liking Piorwai Prep? It's where Chuffrey and I would send our children if we had any." She turned her attention to Nor but shot the last remark at the wrinkled grape.

"I'm Nor." Nor answered with a look at me first.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, dear!" Glinda said in horror. Not that she was ever good with names. Biq. Boq. "You may have to remind me several times. It took me months to get the names of some of my dear friends right. I'm absolutely horrendible." Nor stared blankly at her, so Glinda moved the conversation along with an encouraging look.

"I like it enough." Nor shrugged. "The teachers are nice, and the kids are fine." But she missed being in the Vinkus.

"Did you make any friends?"

"I don't want too many friends." Nor told Glinda as a waiter set Nor's hot apple cider in front of her then did everyone else's orders. Chuffrey sniffed his coffee, frowned, and pushed it away. "My mom's comin' back for me."

Glinda gazed at me for a moment. "But you've made a friend or two?"

Another shrug, "People like me 'cause I'm a princess."

"You'll deal with that forever." Glinda nodded sympathetically.

"She shares her lunch with one boy." I provided, and Nor rolled her eyes.

"He is _not _my friend." She told Glinda seriously. "He doesn't like the food his mom gives him. So I let him have my food. Princesses share with the needy."

"Surely he can't be that bad of a person." Glinda took a sip of her hot lemon water.

"He's weird!" Nor protested. "He's in all of my rotation classes, but he's a year younger than me. What does that say 'bout me if I'm consortin' with the lesser class." Chuffrey opened his mouth to respond but thought better. "This one girl who sits next to me in art said he's super smart." She rolled her eyes. "He doesn't really talk to anyone, and only if he really has to. I only started sharin' 'cause he keeps throwin' his food out."

"What's his name?"

"I don't ask." Nor snorted.

Glinda giggled and took another sip of her beverage. Her husband took her break to speak up, "Best you do that, child." His old voice was so shaky and quiet. "Boys only grow up to want one thing." He tapped his nose. "Smart girl if you keep them at arm's length."

Nor held my hand, rocking our arms back and forth animatedly, as we left the cafe and roamed the streets randomly until it was getting near dinnertime. There would be times when she would be so wound up. She wanted to look in every window, talk to every stranger, smell every plant, and touch every animal or Animal we passed. Then, though, there would be times where she would completely retreat into her own mind. She would stop a sentence and just stare down at the ground, stopping all energy that had once been bursting from her tiny body. She would sniffle but never cry. And I didn't know what to do. I didn't know how to make her pain go away, and that pained me. What kind of father was I if I couldn't keep my own child from hurting? So I'd pick her up or let her ride on my back, any little thing I could think of that would cheer her up. Even if for only a few moments.

I knew we'd need to talk eventually. But I couldn't do that when she was so emotionally unstable. I wasn't a genius, or a doctor, or anything remotely close to significantly intelligent, but I was smart enough to know the topic would come up when it comes up. And I would never forgive myself if I pushed it on Nor. She'd open up to me when she was ready, and I was a patient person. Patient enough. At the time, though, I just needed to work on getting her to talk about anything. It was good having Glinda around. If Glinda could make a recluse have full length conversations, the woman could do anything. She was Good because she brought out the good in the people she came across. She inspired it. She would have an influence on Nor. She would get my daughter to talk just as much as her. Even if it took a little time.

"Oh no!" Nor gasped, jumping behind me like I was a human shield.

"What?" I looked around, trying to see whatever she saw. People. There were people, but there were always people.

"It's that boy!" She hissed as she peered from my other side.

Barely five yards away was a little boy sitting on stoop of a building, staring out at all the people on the street as they passed in front of him. His small fists were under his chin and elbows in knees, and himself tucked position made him seem tinier than he probably was. He would focus on one person walking by, stare them down until he was satisfied then snap his attention back to find someone else. Nor let out a hissing sound and rejoined my side. There was no side streets for us to take. The boy blinked when he spotted us and recognition dawned on his face. He was sitting in front of an old building that looked like it hadn't been updated in years, although the buildings around it had all been modernized and titled by some sort of sign. It hardly stood out, but one did notice the lack of identity. A quick smile pulled at the corner of the boy's mouth when we came closer. It could have been a twitch, though. On second thought, I'm sure that's what it was.

"Hi, Avern." Nor waved timidly at the boy. There was something oddly familiar about him. I just couldn't put my finger on it.

I gave her a double glance.

"Hi." He muttered in response, looking over his shoulder. I didn't know if he heard something or was hiding the sudden rush of color to his cheeks. I'd bet on the latter.

"Why you out here by yourself?"

The boy, Avern, gave me a cautious stare as he answered Nor, "Waiting for my..." He trailed off uncertainly.

"Your mom?" She asked.

"Sure." He said simply.

"Is that your dinner?" She nodded to the brown bag next to him. "You can come and dine with us if you want." She told him.

"Nor-" I muttered but was ignored.

"We're royalty. We're rich." She explained matter-of-factly.

Avern didn't move, just gave us a look of pure hesitation.

"When does you mom get done?"

"She works a lot." He didn't really answer the question.

He didn't have to, though. No sooner than he answered, some shouts and slamming were heard from the other side of the door. Avern stood up immediately, grabbing his brown bag as he did. Before anyone could even mutter, a fury of black and green came out. Avern looked over at the woman standing in front of the shut door, kicking it roughly with her cloak draped over one arm and a point black hat clutched in her other. I froze as Nor gawked at the sight the temperamental woman made. Everyone else on the street paid her no attention, just kept on with whatever they were doing. It was like she wasn't even there. Or like this was a daily occurence. She mumbled something over and over again as she whipped around, glaring over her shoulder at whatever was on the other side of the door.

"I swear I'm going to-" She had started telling Avern until her eyes found Nor and me. "quit." She finished quietly.

"Is this your mom?" Nor asked excitedly. "She's green!" Avern and his mother gave Nor the same look as she shook my hand vigorously, stating the obvious. "Daddy! She's green!"

Avern straightened out his shirt as he started talking without much interest, "This is..." He trailed off uncertainly again. "Elphaba." Nor took a sharp intake of breath. "This is that girl-"

"Nor." Nor corrected him.

"Yes." Avern sighed. "They want me to dine with them. They can pay for it. They're rich."

"And royalty." Nor added.

Avern nodded, giving Elphaba a pained look. There was a terrible twist in my stomach as I tried pin pointing the similarities between the two. His nose was too rounded, his cheek bones not as defined, and there was something different about the shape of his eyes. They just seemed so similar, though. That could have come with living with her, though, right? I mean, assuming they lived together. The way he stood so confidently but small at the same time basically screamed Elphaba. His dark hair was the same color as hers, but many people had dark hair. Right? I tried keeping the frown off my face as I sorted their differences and similarities out.

"Long time no see, eh?" I smiled, bringing myself back to reality, at Elphaba as she descended the stairs with Avern trailing close behind her.

"Avern, this is Master Tiggular," Elphaba told the child at her feet. He really was as small as he appeared.

"Oh." Avern replied as if that explained everything. It sent a pang of nerves rushing through me.

"If you're not busy, we'd love to have company for dinner." I said. Elphaba raised her eyebrows at me, and I already knew the answer.

"You can choose the restaurant." Nor put in, as if that would make up Elphaba's mind.

"We have a lot of things to do tonight." Elphaba looked down at Avern, who nodded eagerly. "Maybe another time."

The two of them took off, arms crossed as they strode away from me and Nor. I stared after them for a while. They were a black away from us, but I saw the little boy reach out to grab Elphaba's hand, which she offered eagerly. Another jab went through my gut, and I took my own daughter's hand before leading her away from the building.

"Mama never liked green." Nor said offhandedly as we passed a cafe that made green coffee to match their green croissants.

"No, she didn't." I agreed.

"I think I like it, though." She grinned and I squeezed her hand.

"Nor," I pondered over my question before vocalizing it. "What's Avern's last name?"

"Tenmeadows."

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	2. Chapter 2

**Hello!**

**Thank you so much for all the support, and I'm stoked that you all are giving this a chance! **

**Here's the next chapter. Sorry it's taken a little while! I got some Fiyeraba interaction for you, though!**

The word stalking sounded a little too…wrong for what I felt I was doing. There was such a bad stigma attached to the word, and I wasn't a bad person, and what I was doing was completely justifiable. Stalkers had victims, and I just simply had someone I was curious about. Stalkers had a room devoted to their victim, pictures and quotes and cut outs decorating the place. I didn't have a spare room to do that. Not that I would if I did. No. I wasn't stalking a person. If I were in the Vinkus, I could be stalking game. Even then, though, I preferred the word 'hunting'. Stalking was for lonely people, and I was not lonely. I was people watching. Person watching.

Currently, I was watching a figure cloaked in black weave her way through the morning rush in the Emerald City. I cancelled coffee with Glinda to do this watching, and I didn't feel about it. There was no way she didn't know that Elphaba was in town with a child. Not just anyone's child. Possible hers, fathered by Avaric. I inwardly gagged at that. Anyway, Elphaba was the person I was watching. Having to follow her in order to watch her was merely a technicality.

She, unknowingly, lead me to a downtrodden area of the Emerald City. I frowned at the smell the hit me when we reached the second block of the area. It smelt like piss and death. The streets were no longer the sleek, paved material the streets in my area were. These ones changed from gravel to cobblestone every so often. It seemed that the cobblestone streets marked the business areas and gravel for residential blocks. The smell was worse than the changing terrain, though. I don't know how it didn't travel throughout the City and cause permanent nose damage to its residents. I can guarantee that no part of the Vinkus was this impoverished. We prided ourselves on our low poverty rate. Even our nomads were more well off than this neighborhood.

Elphaba ducked into a store without warning. Well, not like she was going to tell me she needed to go in for a second or fifty. I allowed myself the risk of getting accosted in order to keep out of her line of sight when she'd come out. So I hung back a little and gave a few good coins to an old woman who came up asking if I had some to spare. I didn't retain the information, but I struck up meaningless conversation with her until Elphaba came out of the store with four satchels strategically strapped across her, several baskets dangling off her arm, and a thick bag hanging off one of her shoulders. I gave the babbling woman in front of me a couple more coins before excusing myself.

I ended up losing more money as the morning wore on, but I kind of thought it as a price I had to pay to find out information about the mystery the green woman had turned into. My money was lost on homeless elders and young people alike coming up and asking for change as I followed Elphaba down alley ways. Two of the baskets were disposed of first, each given to a person sitting on the ground in the alley. The first one was a woman with a child hanging around her skirts. Elphaba was gentle with her when she handed her the basket and then took the child's temperature and check a bandaged wound on her leg. The second was to a man with one leg and one eye to match. He opened it right away and dug into the first loaf of bread he pulled out.

Okay, so baked goods were in the baskets, medical supplies were in the thick shoulder bag, so what was in the satchels?

She got through all the baskets before coming back out to the main road, a cobblestone one, and up to a niche in the wall that was selling food and beverages.

"Just a coffee, please." I heard her tell the vender when she reached the front.

"Make that two," I popped up beside her, purposefully startling her. I grinned innocently as she looked at me like I had no right being here. "Having a good morning?" I asked after the man had given us our coffee, and I left several notes and forcibly steered Elphaba away before he could give me back my change.

She yanked her arm free and moved a couple inches away from me with a scowl, "What are you doing here?"

"What?" I took a sip of the coffee. It tasted like shit, but I kept it. "Can't a man enjoy a walk on a nice day?"

Elphaba gave me a skeptical look.

"Why didn't you send word you were in the City?" She didn't even acknowledge my question, just blew softly on her steaming cup. "What are you here for? Work? Do you normally help the homeless? Is Avern your child—"

"Have you been stalking me?" She snapped, cutting off my interrogation.

"Well, is he?"

"Have you?"

"I don't stalk." I defended myself.

She raised her eyebrows. "Go home, Fiyero," Elphaba sighed and started walking away from me. I smiled at my name coming from her mouth.

"What about Tenmeadows?"

"My life is none of your concern." She retorted sharply.

"You and him never got along." I fell in step with her. "You used to rant about him all the time, going on and on about how ignorant and self-absorbed he was. If I remember correctly, you spent a whole night in my arms after that one night at the OzDust."

"And if I remember correctly, you're married with a child." She spat.

"Not anymore." I mumbled.

Elphaba stopped, "You left Sarima?"

"She died," I crossed my arms over my chest and looked down at the ground. "A couple of weeks ago. I wasn't there."

"Oh, Fiyero," Elphaba's voice lost the chill she had been sporting. She put a hesitant hand on my arm and gave it a light squeeze. "I'm sorry."

"She wanted to leave me since graduation anyway." I shrugged. "We were both unhappy; it was only a matter of time before something happened."

Elphaba was quiet for a while, but her hand was still on my arm. I held on to the feeling of the weight of her hand on my arm. It was a ghost of a feeling. It was one I would take with me, though.

"Avern and I are quite fond of that restaurant on the corner of 3rd and 44th," She told me after retracting her hand. "I usually take him there around sunset at the end of the week."

"That's like six days from now." I complained.

It raised a chuckle out of her, though. "We haven't seen each for years, Fiyero, a couple more days will hardly kill us."

"Speak for yourself."

She rolled her eyes.

"At least let me finish shadowing you for the day. We've gotten this far."

She let out a long suffering sigh, but ultimately let me follow her to the rest of her rounds. Obviously, she set rules: I was not allowed to ask questions; I was not allowed to make innuendos or outuendos; I could not stand too close to her; I could not stray to from her; I could not tell people who I was; I could not flirt with people (including her); and I was not allowed to do anything that could be taken the wrong way. Basically, I could walk and breath. Smiling could be seen as flirting. I only followed some of her asinine rules, telling her she was just protecting herself from falling in love with me. She cackled so loudly, it was almost a blow to my ego.

We kept going deeper into the heart of the neighborhood, the satchels still hanging from her. Elphaba stopped a lot of times to talk with some people who were milling about. She asked about their children, their siblings, their parents, or their pets. She called most of them by name, and the ones she didn't know, she walked away knowing. It was something to watch her interact with these people. I didn't even really know what she was doing, but she was intriguing me in a way she always had. A young man stopped her in one of the alleys, and the two chatted for a while. They had to be talking to each other for a good twenty minutes before the man pointed me out. Me, just standing uselessly behind Elphaba, fiddling with my thumbs while this joker so blatantly flirted his ass off with the green girl. If I thought the cackling was a blow to my ego, her telling him that I was just a Winkie do-gooder was ten times worse. Stab me in the heart and toss me in the river, why don't you.

The young man addressed, speaking loud and slow, like we weren't taught how to speak the official Ozian language back in the Vinkus. I stared blankly at him and then to Elphaba. Actually, I may have glared daggers at her. She had enough good grace to excuse us from the conversation shortly after that. Too late, though. I started disregarding her rules with the next person we came across. Call me a Winkie again and I'll make sure people ask about me every time you come down her, you green devil.

"Do you do this everyday?" I asked her after taking the satchels from her and carrying them myself. She didn't tell me what they were, but they were heavy. I couldn't believe she had been toting them around since the morning.

"I try to." She said, pointing to the next street we needed. "Most of these people lost a family member or an entire family to an insurgency. Sometimes they're collateral damage or sometimes in the heart of the incident. I would feel bad if I left them with nothing when I have so much."

"Have you lost someone to an insurgency?" I didn't give her time to answer before I went on. "Is Nessarose alright? Your father?"

"Right here." Elphaba gave me a gentle push towards the walkway to a house.

I had to think that the satchels weren't exactly for the needy. The couple who answered the door looked no less off than Glinda or myself. Their cloaks were thick, bodies cleaned, hair brushed, and teeth polished. Elphaba also seemed to be more distant to these two than she had with the people we met on the street. When they glanced cautiously at me, Elphaba told them I was with her, and they didn't even question it. I handed one satchel over to each of them. The man took his and brushed past us, disappearing into the steadily growing foot traffic. The woman offered to put some tea on the stove if we weren't in a rush. Elphaba smiled gratefully at her but declined, stating that we needed to be on the other side before the afternoon was up. She promised to come by sometime before the week was over, though, and that seemed to please the woman. She strung her satchel across her body and bid us a farewell with a soft spoken, "See you, Fae."

"So Fae?" I smirked as we made our way up traffic.

"It's just a nickname."

"Did Avaric give it to you?"

My breath caught in my throat when she pushed me into the wall of a building and held me there with a firm hand on my chest. No one even blinked an eye! She was assaulting me, and no one even cared. Where were we even at and would they care if she ended up killing me? Wherever we were and whoever our company was, I made special note of Elphaba's reaction to Avaric being mention.

"If you're going to slum around with me, you don't get to talk about him."

"Aye, aye, Madame Elphaba."

"You don't need to use honorifics with me, Fiyero." She gave me a last shove before continuing her walk. She didn't confirm or deny her current relationship state, though.

"Can I call you Fae?"

"You can call be Elphaba."

"Elphie?"

"I don't even know why I bother with you."

"It's my animal magnetism."

"Of course it is." The corners of her lips twitched like they wanted to smile but was refusing to let herself.

"I need food, _Elphaba_."

"I'm not taking you out," She shot warningly.

"I'll take you out, then. Get a little grub and call it a date."

"I have a rule about not going out with a man with a dead wife."

"Since when?" I snorted.

"Since Winkie do-gooders decided to pester me."

"We have a date at the end of the week."

"That is not a date."

"Play date for the kids, dinner date for the parents. If you play your cards right, I may even kiss you at the end of the night."

Elphaba let out a bark of laughter and snapped at me to keep walking, but I could see the blush creeping up her neck from under her collar. That rule was bullshit, and she knew it.

.

"You just may be the worst friend ever." I said to Glinda as I shut the door to her office in the Emerald Palace behind me.

"I beg your pardon?" She stared at me like I had grown another head but didn't ask who let me in.

I think the guards had grown accustomed to my visits after all these years. They barely batted an eyelash when I slipped through the gates that separated at the Palace from the square preceding it. They never called their superiors about me anymore, but they never actually opened the gates for me either. I'd bet that some of them even found entertainment in watching me try to make it through the bars without cutting myself or my clothes. I had grown quite great at it. I liked to think that the guards and I had a special relationship by now, but Glinda kept 'assuring' me that none of them gave two cahoots about me outside of the gossip I gave them.

After the guards at the gates, the ones in the Palace were cake. The maids were even easier. Ladies love a sharp dressed Vinkun. I should have been more ashamed about the maids I grew acquainted with over the years, but I really didn't have it in me to feel bad about my current ability to sneak into the Emerald Palace without a problem. Besides, I had plenty of allies from the Palace now, and was making allies ever a bad thing? No. Allies were never something to regret, no matter the means at which they were acquired. Of course, Glinda begged to differed and threatened the placement of several parts of my anatomy if I made allies with her closest handmaids and secretaries. I was sure to steer clear of most of them.

"Should I start with asking when did Elpharic happen?"

"When what happened?"

"Or the child it produced?"

"I don't know who you're talking about, Fiyero."

"Or how long they've been together?"

"Fiyero!"

"Or just knowing how long the Elphaba half has been in Oz would be nice."

"Oh."

"Yeah, oh, is right." I plopped down in the chair in front of her desk. "A friend would have kept me in the know."

"Oh, honey-"

"Don't 'oh, honey' me, Upland." I snapped.

She gave me a critical she would give a child. "And don't you get snippy with me. Elphaba's life is her business and not one for me to gossip about. She has her reasons for things, and I am not in a position to question her." Glinda slammed the book she had been looking at shut. "But, if you must know, Avaric died before you even started coming to the City." Glinda frowned.

"Died?" She nodded. "How?"

"Elphie says that he just got sick and never better. She doesn't talk about it much, and I don't ask."

"Can you at least tell me if Avern is theirs?"

"I don't know." She shook her head. Her blonde curls moved perfectly along with the movement. "She really doesn't tell me much of anything that could be in anyway related to Avaric. I always assumed so, though. They just have this bond that I can't explain, so I figure it must be something between a mother and child. Sorry, Fiyero, dear."

I slumped in the chair, quirking my lips to the side. "She looks great."

"Fiyero," Glinda moved uncomfortably in her chair. "You know I love you." I nodded. "And I truly do want to see you happy and understand you've sold yourself into the delusion that Elphaba makes you happy."

"We're not talking about this, Glinda."

"No, no, you're right." She folded her hands and set them on the desk, leaning slightly forward. "But be careful, will you? Unpacking his box with Elphaba, you may find more things inside than you remember."

I snorted, "What could be worse than a child?"

She didn't laugh, just kept a serious face and frown, "You'd be surprised."

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